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The mountains begin south of the border between Arad Doman and Saldaea and extend for several hundreds of leagues to form the nartural boundaries of four more nations; Andor, Tarabon, Ghealdan, and Amadicia. The mountain range serves as the genesis for the headwaters of several major rivers, including the River Tarendrelle and the River Manetherendrelle. Additionally, the range features a vast inland lake, the spectacular waterfall Eldrene's Veil, and the Sand Hills, a geographic anomaly that extends along its eastern limits. Six Ogierstedding are also located throughout the mountain range. Along with the Manetherendrelle River and The Mire, the mountains serve as an element of geography that promotes the isolation of the Two Rivers region.[2]

Evidence suggests that the Mountains of Mist did not exist during the Age of Legends, when the area was covered by the shallows of a great ocean. During the Breaking of the World, insane male Channelers raised the mountain range and drove back the sea. The disturbance of the adjacent shoreline would become the sand hills, and the rocks, ores, and minerals locked below the ocean floor were forced into enormous vertical displacements forging vast mountain peaks.

In the years following the breaking of the world, those who returned to the area discovered a great wealth of gold, silver, iron, and copper in the mountains that had long existed below the surface of the earth. In time towns arose to exploit these riches which became cities and eventually birthed the nation of Manetheren (literally "Mountain Home" in the Old Tongue). Manetheren founded it's capital near the headwaters of the Manetherendrelle River, high and secure in the safety of the surrounding peaks. For over a thousand years the nation prospered and fought wars within the passes of the mountains with its neighbor and rival Safer which controlled the northern stretches of the range. Doom came to both nations during the Trolloc Wars when Manetheren was destroyed following the Battle of the Tarendrelle River and the Battle of Aemon's Field.[3] Safer declined soon afterwards and for several hundred years the mountains remained wild and uncontrolled. Travelers to the site of the former Manetheren capital will encounter a singular lone Waygate framed by mighty peaks capped with clouds and surrounded by a vast stretch of glass shards strewn along the mountain slopes marking the location where the wonderous capital city was annihilated.[4] Hidden amongst the peaks are ancient remains dating from this era. Daring travelers may chance upon great carved figures that can span an entire mountainside or a location where strange angular letters two spans high are incised across a cliff face that is a shade too smooth and sheer to be natural.[5]

In the years following the Trolloc Wars the Mountains of Mist fell under the control of many nations that rose and fell. Towns and encampments were founded to continue to exploit the riches locked in untapped mines near the surface of the range, though no single community would last permanently.

After the death of Artur Hawkwing the nation of Andor began to grow and expand westward. Eventually Andor came into control of the Two Rivers district and some lands to the north. It was here where the town of Baerlon was founded to establish a community where miners could live whilst extracting riches from the mountains and funnel the subsequent wealth east to Caemlyn. Other nations have also claimed rights to various stretches of the range, though none have managed a control of the area so completely as ancient Manetheren.

Though many believe the mountains to be impassable, recent troubles in Arad Doman, Tarabon, and the Almoth Plain have driven refugees into the range. Some of these exiles discovered routes through the peaks and have begun to settle on the eastern side, swelling the populations of Baerlon, Ghealdan, and the Two Rivers while bringing with them new trade skills and cultural traditions.[6]